how all it ends in tears when the yellow man doesn't listen anymore to the white man
Which is what this is all about. Hong Kong just went back to China, and unless Hell freezes over there is no way Cathay will be allows to continue operating as a bastion of expatriate mercenaries. It's just not going to happen because it implies that westerners do a job the Chinese can't.
Expats are fine as pure manpower - seatfillers if you will. They've been flying on the mainland as such for decades, But not as owners, not as managers, and certainly not as imported expertise.